


Different Side of the Coin

by Ludella



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Loss, Mild Sexual Content, Pining, Reunions, Saix is a nobody and Lea is still human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-30 03:40:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19034044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ludella/pseuds/Ludella
Summary: After sneaking into the castle in Radiant Garden for the first time, Lea and Isa are split up. Only one finds the girl, only one returns, and only one becomes a Nobody.Lea knows for most of his life that something is missing, even if he can't remember what it is. But every now and then,  he encounters a stranger with the hopes of helping him remember.





	Different Side of the Coin

**Author's Note:**

> alright it's been a while since i've done kingdom hearts so i've taken some liberties with Nobody logic. such as yes isa and ienzo still age as nobodies and get older, and when somebody becomes a nobody, they're gradually forgotten by the people who once knew them.

“I knew we shouldn’t have come here,” Isa is the first to say, and Lea is the first to shush him.

“I get it, I get it, now be quiet before they hear--” He cuts himself off, exchanging a panicked look with his friend as another set of footsteps joins the ones already nearing their hiding place. Isa clamps a hand on Lea’s mouth and stills his breathing entirely as they wait for any other noise from their unexpected guests.

They didn’t think anybody would be here this late.

The castle at the center of Radiant Garden was something like an urban legend around their neighborhood, with kids daring each other to get within a few hundred feet of it--and most being unable to for fear alone. Nobody is sure if it’s always been there, or if it was abandoned in the past by something, but it’s been busier now than ever before. Lights can be seen from a distance, vehicles coming in and out of the gates, and all kinds of strange things popping up around town. One girl next door even said she saw some kind of monster late the other night, and though it wasn’t a very credible rumor, that’s all it took to pique Lea’s interest.

There’s no way Isa was just going to let him run head first into a dangerous place like this by himself, either. But right now, he almost wishes he had. They had agreed it would be safest to come at night when all sane people should be tucked away and asleep, hopefully including whatever inhabitants are using the castle. Instead, they found an overactive laboratory that was up and running at full speed in spite of the time.

Lea refused to leave without something of interest to tell the other kids at school, some kind of proof or story that would make coming here worth it. They weren’t able to make heads or tails of anything in any of the labs themselves, and it’s when Lea actually tried deciphering a stack of notes left out on a countertop did they learn they weren’t the only ones in this place.

Even if Isa wasn’t covering Lea’s mouth, he doesn’t think he’d make a noise, given how white his face has become. He knows his friend well enough to be able to tell that he’s utterly terrified right now, in a way he hasn’t seen since they were much younger. He’s gotten stronger since those days, but every now and then Isa remembers just how far this current Lea has come--and how far he still has to go.

Not that he can particularly blame him for being frightened right now--he definitely is, too. There’s no telling what kind of people use this castle, or what would happen to them if they got caught. It isn’t like they could use the excuse they just got lost and wandered in; they had to sneak through an opening in the fence and are actively rummaging through their material. Punishment is expected, but the severity is unknown. With each footstep that comes closer, Isa can feel his heart beating quicker in his chest, his mind trying to keep up with its pace and devise some kind of plan to get them out of here.

The only way out is the same they came, and the footsteps are approaching from the opposite direction. It would be easy to just run out now and make a dash down the hall they came, but who is to say they don’t have weapons, or couldn’t just catch up to them? Waiting them out isn’t an option, either; if they don’t keep walking and actually come in here, then it’s all over.

There is one option, Isa thinks, trying to recall the exact shape of the hall they came through.

“Listen, Lea,” he whispers quietly, Lea’s brows shooting up in surprise at the fact he made a noise at all. “On the count of three, we’re going to run.”

“ _ Run _ ? What do you mean  _ run _ \--”

“We’re going to go back the way we came, it’s our only chance--”

“They could catch up to us!”

“It’s better than being caged in here and definitely being caught!”

Lea bites his lip. He does have a point there. Isa grabs his hand and slowly begins leading them both to the side of the door they entered through. Although they’ve slowed, he can still hear two people coming down the hall, talking to each other familiarly. If they get any closer than they are now, it’s basically over before it’s begun.

At his side, Lea tries to peer out the window on the door and wrings Isa’s hand between his fingers.

“Just go back the way we came,” Isa mouths, and only once Lea nods in agreement does he hold up his fingers in a countdown. As soon as his fingers make a fist, he reaches for the door, and they take off.

Running from the scenes of an evening gone wrong isn’t anything unusual for them; this is by no means the first time Lea has suggested something stupid that ended up with them dashing away before they could be caught. Sometimes it felt like they’d be dead meet if they were caught, but this is the only time that the fear felt legitimate. Usually the chase was part of Lea’s antics, a rush he loved and would boast about later.

There was no such joy on his face now, though. Neither even bothered to get a look at whoever it was in the hallway as they took off, though they could hear surprise in the two men’s voices at them bursting out of the laboratory. There was hardly any time to pay them any mind as they took off down the hall they’d come from, not even listening to see if they were being chased. 

They’d come straight down this way, taken a left here, and a right up ahead--after getting caught up in so many pranks gone wrong, they were both used to memorizing the directions of their route. Lea had the entire way down through muscle memory alone, and he ran faster than ever so he would never have to see any of this place ever again. All the strange contraptions and the laboratories they couldn’t understand all become more sinister in his mind as he imagines just how they could be used to punish intruders or what kind of people were using this place.

He doesn’t pay attention to anything until the outside air has brushed his face, and even then Lea doesn’t think of anything but escape until he’s crawled back under the fence and hidden in the foliage surrounding the castle. His lungs are raw, legs weak and unsteady as the adrenaline and fear are replaced with exhaustion. There isn’t any noise besides the wind in the trees, and at this point he’s certain that if they were being chased, their pursuers didn’t make it this far.

It takes a moment for him to wipe the sweat from his brow. But when he turns back to make a snarky comment about their rendezvous gone wrong, Lea feels a pit form in his stomach.

Looking back at the castle he’d just escaped from and the route he’d run to get to his hiding place, there isn’t a trace of Isa.

He spends the rest of his night near inconsolable. Lea can’t bear to leave his place hidden between trees, watching the hole in the gate for the chance Isa will appear at any moment. He thinks to go back in and search for him, or to call somebody, but what good would either of those do? He could easily be caught going through an unfamiliar route, and asking for help just proves they were somewhere they weren’t supposed to be and could both be punished. And if Isa had gotten caught--Lea shuts his mind down entirely and balls his hands into fists at his forehead. He won’t even consider the option.

Yet the implications of such a blunder permeate his thoughts anyways. If something happened, if something at all had happened to his best friend, it would be his fault. He’s the one who suggested they come here, even when Isa didn’t want to, and he convinced him to sneak in together. Isa suggested they leave at multiple points during the night, and Lea was the one who said they should keep looking. And for what? So he could have some stupid proof they did a stupid thing for his pride?

Isa could be hurt, he could be feeling scared and lonely right now, and it’s because Lea  _ abandoned _ him after dragging him here. He’s the one who did this to his own best friend, and nothing can make up for that.

Although the time passing doesn’t register to Lea, it’s hours before something happens. He’s caught off guard by the rustling of bushes and whips around to find he isn’t alone. His first thought is that one of the men from earlier had searched the perimeter and actually found him, and he prepares to offer himself up as sacrifice for Isa before he hears them speak.

“Lea, you’re alright!”

Isa’s hands grasp his shoulders tightly, and Lea immediately grabs onto his forearms in disbelief. In the span of a few hours, he had convinced himself he single-handedly led his best friend to his death. To see him now is such a relief that it doesn’t immediately register, only knowing that he’s  _ happy _ to see Isa right now, and he isn’t about to let go of him any time soon.

“Isa! I thought you were gone!”

Isa’s expression lowers for a second, his fingers loosening on Lea’s shoulders. “It… they were closer than I thought. We definitely would’ve been caught, so I pretended to fall behind and went a different way.”

Lea’s eyes widen in shock. “You… played  _ decoy _ ? What good would that have done, you let yourself get caught! Oh, god, what the hell happened in there?!”

“I didn’t get caught!” Isa immediately insists, and for the first time all day, something like a smile rises to his face. “I shook them off, and by the time I was safe, I was lost in the castle and I… I found something, Lea.”

Immediately, Lea doesn’t like the turn this conversation has taken. He lets go of Isa’s arms and begins walking backwards the way they came. “Isa… let’s just get out of here, I’m tired of being near this place--”

“No, Lea,  _ listen to me _ ,” Isa interrupts uncharacteristically. He follows after Lea and grabs his wrist, keeping him within sight of the castle he could no longer stand to look at. “There’s more to this place than we thought, just like you said. While I was looking for a way out, I found this girl there--”

“You’re telling me that while I was out here thinking I had gotten you killed,” Lea raises his voice, “you were in there  _ talking to them _ ?”

“No, she wasn’t one of them, they had her trapped there--trust me, Lea, we need to go back.”

“I’m never going back in there.”

His voice is firm, in a way that seems to surprise Isa. This is different from their normal disagreements, and for the first time their roles are reversed. It isn’t often that Isa is intent on doing something that Lea refuses him on. For a moment, they’re young children again as Isa tries to pull him out of the shadows by his hand. But Lea resists.

“Lea, I’m being serious, if you had been there you would understand. We need to go back and help her.”

“I thought you were dead, you used yourself as a decoy so I could escape without thinking about how I’d feel. Why would I ever want to escape if it meant losing you?”

“It was the only way one of us was going to make it out--”

“I’d rather we both be caught!” Lea protests, and Isa’s eyes harden on him. Before he can speak, Lea keeps speaking. “I sat out here thinking I had caused you to get hurt, and I didn’t know what to do. I was so  _ afraid _ , Isa, fuck, I’m never doing that again!”

Isa finally lets go of him and crosses his arms. “I thought you were done being a crybaby.”

“Fuck you,” Lea immediately counters. “I was worried, and now you come out here spouting some bullshit about wanting to go  _ back _ ? I don’t care what’s in there, let’s just go do something else, Isa.”

He begins to walk off, back turned to Isa with a sense of finality to prove he’s serious about this. In Lea’s mind, this isn’t even a discussion they should be having, and the fact that Isa is blatantly disregarding his feelings like this is an issue they’ll have to discuss at another time. First things first, Lea just wants to be away from this awful place and leave the memory behind.

“I’m not leaving.”

Lea doesn’t turn around, but he stops.

Isa keeps talking anyways. “This is important, Lea. That girl needs our help, and if you aren’t willing to put your stupid fears aside for two seconds, then I’ll go alone.”

“Sounds good,” Lea says before he can think of a proper response, mere anger taking control before anything else. “Go have fun with your new best friend.”

When he walks off, he hears Isa’s footsteps going the other direction.

Just like that, the last conversation they ever had is left alone in that spot between the trees, constantly overlooked by the dark castle looming behind them.

* * *

There’s a funeral. The town is cloudy when the procession is held, walking all the way from the temple to the graveyard where the deceased would be buried. Even though the casket is empty, it’s carried nevertheless, and he wanders behind it at the front of the general procession as the family carries on in front of him with teary eyes and prayers the entire way.

It feels like a dream. In a daze, Lea goes through the motions of the funeral, but his limbs are heavy, and it’s as if the air itself has become solid in his lungs. His vision wavers before him, and he cannot concentrate on anything but the space directly in front of him so as to not trip and ruin the procession. He isn’t himself, some piece of him clearly missing, cut from his chest. It’s as if he’s inebriated, just woken up, or just having fallen asleep as he tries to make sense of the cloud of mourning he is surrounded in.

He feels the loss, deep in his chest. He knows he is one with the dozens of neighbors and classmates that follow the hollow casket through Radiant Garden. At the front of the general procession, behind the direct family, Lea knows that his own loss is greater than those behind him, and maybe on par or greater with the family’s. As mystical and confusing as the day is, he knows that he feels sad, made numb by his own emotions that are so strong and raw that he can hardly begin to understand them.

His best friend had gone missing. They fought, once was all it took, and never spoke again. Although he had seen the boy in the neighborhood and at school as usual, they avoided each other, the weight of their argument heavy between them. Lea had considered making up with him a few times, was urged on by their peers and family that whatever had taken place was nonsense compared to their long lasting friendship. But his pride persisted, egged on by how easily his friend seemed to get by while ignoring him.

Then one day, he stopped showing up to class at all.

Even though they didn’t hang out or exchange words, Lea still looked for him in crowds, and he had been the first to notice his absence. He didn’t say anything to anyone, though, and stubbornly held on to the idea that he was fine by himself and didn’t need the company of somebody so impossible to deal with in the first place.

One day of absence turned to two, a week, two weeks, and a month.

It wasn’t until his blue jacket was found, torn and discarded at the foot of the now silent castle at the center of Radiant Garden did his family give up hope. The blood on it was undoubtedly his own, stained from the inside out, and it was recent. The family didn’t wait long to end the search then and there.

Lea watches as the casket is lowered into the ground, holding the same picture frame he carried during the procession in front of his torso. The cool black frame is sharp against his fingers, and he curls his hands around it to ground himself to this moment. What happened to his best friend may always remain a mystery. Some might consider it hasty to declare a missing teenager dead after being missing for only three months, but Lea could feel it in the same way everyone else here could; he was gone, and the longer they wait, the further his memory becomes.

It’s strange how sure Lea was he had already died when his parents told him they would be holding a funeral for his previous best friend. He never spoke of it to anyone else, but he felt like he had been going crazy with his disappearance. At times when he let his mind wander, he could just see flashes of blue hair from the corner of his eye, gone before he could even double check. Although the idea of seeing his missing friend should have been exciting, Lea could never chase the mirages, stopped by some eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach.

It was more like seeing a ghost. Somehow, in those strange appearances, Lea knew he had lost his first and best friend, long before his bloodied jacket was found.

He knows the face of the teenager in the photo that he carries for the funeral, and he stares back at the green eyes watching him from behind the black frame instead of listening to the family speak. It hurts too much in a way he never expected, how vaguely everyone speaks, how few stories are told about the very person they are all mourning.

But Lea remembers him. He knows his face, his smile, and the times they shared together like the back of his hand. The feel of his hands helping lead him, the occasionally mischievous glint in his eyes, and the way he would eventually relent to all of Lea’s antics. He remembers their argument, how he had been hurt, and how much he had worried these past few months of searching.

Lea knows the boy they are pretending to mourn better than anyone else.

If only he could recall his name.

* * *

Lea doesn’t have any idea what he’s really doing with his life. His parents want him to go to college and then take over his mother’s business, which is an idea he isn’t particularly averse to, but he doesn’t want to either. In fact, he doesn’t really  _ want _ to do anything. There aren’t any hobbies or goals or wants he has that are worth pursuing, and at a time where he’s expected to decide on his future soon, not having anything to like itself has become a point of stress.

The gates at the edge of town have become something of a place of solace for him recently. There aren’t any memories associated with the bridge leading out of Traverse Town, but it’s one of the only few quiet places where his thoughts won’t drive him crazy. 

For years now, he’s always known that something was missing.

He knows what it is, for the most part, or can assume it has to do with the image of a boy he once knew that’s gotten blurry in his mind. The memory of his voice is there but muffled, his face censored out as if looking at it through water. He remembers being together for so much of his life, and yet the details of the time they spent together have gotten murkier as the years have gone on. His name, his personality, and what happened to him have all disappeared with any love of life Lea once had. Whether or not they’re related, he’s never been sure.

But it’s been a while since he came out here, and before long his parents will get worried, so he stands. It’s in the movement of getting back to his feet does he catch a glimpse of blue from the corner of his eye. It isn’t the first time, by any means, and his mother used to tell him it was a form of coping with the loss of a friend--whatever kind of loss it was. Now she doesn’t say anything about it at all.

This time, though, it doesn’t immediately disappear. When Lea turns to get a better look at the figure, it remains, and he gets a clear look at the portrait that’s eluded his memory for so long.

Lea immediately brightens up and rushes toward the other boy who, surprisingly, approaches him at a much more reasonable place. 

“You’re here!” Lea says excitedly, unsure of what to do when they come within a few feet of each other. At once, he doesn’t understand how he could’ve possibly forgotten--his best friend, the boy he’d loved for so long, how could he not have recalled every moment they spent together? Even now he can’t really place where they met or their specific times together, but one look at his face helps cement his image in his mind. There’s no way he could forget a face like his, not again, and he concentrates hard on his fine features to commit them to memory.

“...hey, Lea,” he says, and Lea’s name on his voice is so pleasingly familiar he can’t help but feel delighted. Before Lea can get the chance to say anything, the boy closes the space between them and envelops Lea in a close embrace, arms wrapping tight around his middle. 

It surprises Lea, to say the least, and his hands hover in the air as he tries to come up with what he should be doing in this situation. He knows this person… he knows that he knows him, definitely. His voice, his face, even his smell is familiar, and yet… he doesn’t know what to do now that they’ve finally met. His hands gently come to rest on the back of the teenager’s black cloak.

“I searched for you everywhere after what happened in Radiant Garden… I wanted to talk to you back then, and apologize for what happened, but I couldn’t. I still didn’t know what was happening to me,” he explains, though his words make no sense to Lea.

He tries to make conversation anyways. “Yeah… yeah, it’s been a really long time, huh? I’ve almost forgotten all about Radiant Garden.”

The familiar stranger makes a noise of acknowledgement in Lea’s ear. “It’s only been two years since you left, has your memory gotten that bad?”

Lea tries to laugh nervously and use the topic to confess. “I guess so, I’ve forgotten a ton of things. My old house, my old dog, the name of the school, your name…” He’d keep the list going if he could, but he immediately feels the boy tense up as soon as he says it.

Slowly, the blue haired boy pulls away. Although his expression is completely neutral, Lea can see something complex happening in his eyes. Some conflict of… emotion? Oddly enough, he’s not sure if it could even be called that. 

The boy takes a step back, separating from him completely. “You don’t… remember me?”

“I didn’t say that!” Lea quickly amends, waving his hands out in front of him as he scurries to come up with an excuse. “I recognized you immediately, we were friends! It’s just some things like names or specific memories are blurry, that’s all!”

“Xemnas said this would happen,” he says, quieter, and Lea doesn’t think the words were meant for him. “I didn’t think… of all people, you…”

“I swear, it isn’t as big of a deal as you make it out to be!” Lea tries to step towards him, but the other moves away as if anticipating the action. “The shift from worlds just jumbled things up, you know? It’ll all come back once it’s been jogged, I know it will. And you’re here now, aren’t you? We can be together again, just like old times!” Even if he doesn’t remember what those old times exactly were.

But the other shakes his head, gradually backing away and increasing the distance between them. “I held onto you all this time, you were the reason I was able to become a Nobody and not just fade away. I had hope, that I was… going to talk to you about our argument, and apologize, and… fix things, so I could keep going forward,” he says, and although the words mean nothing to Lea, he can’t help but feel guilty anyways. “I was foolish, just like he said.”

“I don’t know what you’re even talking about,” Lea admits, “but it isn’t my fault that I forgot--”

“No, you aren’t at fault of anything, Lea,” he says, interrupting him. A dark hole is summoned behind him, and as the wispy darkness begins to curl around the boy’s shoulders and envelop him, Lea thinks he sees him smile for just a second. 

The next moment, he’s gone, any trace of him disappearing into empty space. Lea is left with nothing, and he looks around for a while to try and find where the stranger had disappeared to so he can explain himself. Even if he doesn’t know him that well, he still remembers that they were friends, that he’s important to Lea, and most importantly, that he doesn’t want to forget his face again.

As Lea runs around Traverse Town, he repeats the image of the blue haired boy’s sad face in his mind, determined to commit it to memory and never forget again.

Come the next day, he’s already forgotten what it was that he wanted so desperately to remember.

* * *

Lea walks backwards out of the movie theater, throwing his head back to let out a loud laugh at a joke his friend tells. A large gaggle of other college students follow him out of the dark theater and into the twilight evening, the sun just barely setting below the buildings now. They’re all still getting used to independence, not understanding any responsibility that comes with it as much as it’s just an opportunity to do whatever they want and whenever. One of the girls in the back of their group suggests playing games at her house, and another friend proposes the idea of sneaking into some abandoned building when it gets darker. Lea isn’t sure why the idea tugs at something in his chest, but he rejects it offhandedly to avoid questioning.

They settle on taking a lap around town and daring each other to do increasingly stupid shit on the way in turns. Lea remembers being quite the prankster in his youth, but some of the stuff these people come up with could put even him to shame. Not that it’s necessarily a good thing; he isn’t particularly fond of some of his ‘friends’ as they tend to take some jokes a little too far. Lea may not be the gentlest or kindest person in the world, but he’s gotten used to having to be one of the only people to tell them to stop at the risk of seeming lame. But they’re college students, not middle schoolers.

He’ll probably drop out. The only reason he’s stayed in school this long was because of the friends he’s made, not actually caring about whatever business degree his father has been pushing him towards. Now that they’re sophomores and getting closer to their junior year where things are going to get more serious, Lea doesn’t see any reason to continue with something he hates. Whether or not they’ll stay friends after he’s out of sight and mind, though… he tries not to think about it. All that matters is the present.

Few people roam the streets of Traverse Town once the sun sets for fear of monsters that have started popping up at night. Their gang isn’t afraid of anything like that, but Lea wonders if they should be. Although nobody else is worried, Lea keeps a constant watch of their surroundings just in case. They’re all from different worlds, and though he doesn’t know how they lost their homes, he has vague memories what happened in Radiant Garden. Call it paranoia that keeps him watching each alleyway while trying to maintain conversation, but he isn’t prepared to lose anything again.

Even if what he lost was the ability to remember what he had. 

His caution is the only thing that allows him to catch sight of a figure as the buildings on the block end and open up into a courtyard. At the sight of a dark, black-clad figure, his stomach immediately jolts before recognizing it as an actual person. A man, just about his age, with long blue hair is waiting at the corner beside the last building, eyes immediately trained on Lea as he comes into sight. Perhaps he would still be worried for their safety if it were a stranger, but he knows the guy. Or, at least, he doesn’t look like a stranger, and for some reason he can’t pin down, he knows he isn’t dangerous. 

It’s as if all he knows is that he knows him--but such is the life of someone within so many social circles like he is. Chances are the guy is probably just one of those quiet dudes who hangs in the back of the classroom and doesn’t speak up, or maybe their schedules work out so they pass each other in the hall every now and then. Something like that.

Lea thinks to call out, to wave or say hello or anything, but he’s already falling behind. One of his friends, a nicer one, grabs his wrist and tugs him along before he ends up tailing the group. For just a second as he’s turning to give his friends his full attention, he thinks he sees the man scowl.

* * *

As it goes, life continues to spiral at a maddening pace, and it drags Lea along for the ride. There isn’t much time for thinking or planning as much as he just goes with whatever comes his way. He could get a better job if he wanted, but it’s easier to stay a bartender like he’s been for years. He could get a nicer apartment, but he has a good relationship with his landlord. It wouldn’t be difficult to aim higher if he had the motivation, and that’s just it--he doesn’t.

While other people had grandiose dreams they swore by, Lea had never considered such a thing. He had hobbies, sure, and there were definitely things he didn’t want to do, but that doesn’t mean he’s aiming for anything in particular. If life were to continue day by day forever, it would be just fine by him. There’s no need to look forward to a tomorrow that’ll undoubtedly be just as bleak as yesterday.

Which isn’t to say his life is  _ bad  _ by any means. He sleeps for most the day, goes to work at night, hangs out with the bouncers at the bar in his free time, and makes enough money to have fun with when he needs. It isn’t a lot, but it’s enough for him. So long as he lets himself get caught up in the day to day, he hardly worries about how things could be if they were different, if he had any motivation besides making it to his bed before dawn. 

An hour before closing, the only people who are typically in the bar are those who have already been there for quite some time. If stragglers were to come in now, it’s probably just to end a night of bar hopping with one last shot before stumbling out the door immediately after. It isn’t unusual for people to come in at this time, they’re just a very specific type of person.

And the man who enters the bar is nothing like he expects.

Rather than a bumbling drunk looking to finish off a rowdy night, he appears completely sober. It isn’t nervousness, but he definitely looks out of place in this scene and definitely knows it. If he  _ is _ nervous, he certainly doesn’t show it as he makes a beeline for the bar and sits at a spot Lea had just finished wiping down. Up close, Lea can see him much better, and something about his bright blue hair strikes him as familiar.

Lea puts on a charming smile that isn’t entirely insincere and gives the man his full attention. “Pretty late to get the night started, buddy,” he comments amicably. “What can I get you?”

The man’s eyes wander the counter for a moment, as if searching for a menu before he catches a glimpse of a woman on the other side of the bar with some red drink in a tall glass. “What she’s having,” he says, voice low and seemingly uninterested in the entire scene. Lea tries not to think much of it and works on preparing the fruity drink, focusing instead on placing the man’s face in his memory.

They’ve definitely met before, or Lea has at least seen him somewhere. It isn’t unusual for him to meet strangers he’s seen on the street here, but he can usually come up with where he’d seen them. It isn’t that he doesn’t remember a place he’s seen him, it’s where he  _ hasn’t _ . Be it the grocery store, the park, the mall, Lea could convince himself he’d met this man any of those places with equal believability. Maybe he  _ has _ seen him all those places, but wouldn’t he remember him more distinctly? Seeing him now doesn’t feel unusual, though, and he can certainly feel that this isn’t for the first time.

Once the drink is finished, Lea graciously plops an extra cherry on top and puts the glass down in front of him. The man doesn’t say anything else as he brings it to his lips and drinks it without so much as a reaction or a pleased look. By his face, Lea would just think he was drinking water, not the punchy, tart alcoholic beverage he’d served him. But he doesn’t say anything about it.

Lea crosses his arms on top of the counter and leans towards him. “Alright, I’ll bite,” he says, “where do I know you from?”

A small smile flashes across the stranger’s lips, passing as quickly as it came. “Nowhere,” he answers. “This is the first time we’ve met.”

Lea chuckles and waves the idea off. If he says so, it must be true. “Guess I would’ve remembered someone as handsome as you, anyways. You’re pretty striking.”

It isn’t a lie to butter him up; he’s extremely attractive, with that perfect gloomy aura that fits Lea’s type to a T. It’s too fun to try and pull serious men into his antics, getting them riled up or embarrassed. Sometimes that challenge is the only fun Lea gets in his days, and he’s not about to pass up on a particularly pretty chance.

“You, too,” the man says, returning the compliment in the least interested way possible, which only serves to encourage Lea. He leans further over the counter, putting his chin in his hand as he looks up at the blue haired man. Funny, with how familiar he looked, his eyes are the only thing Lea doesn’t feel like he recognizes. Guess they really haven’t met before after all.

“Got a name, man? I’m Lea.”

“I know,” he says immediately, and before Lea can question, he finishes with, “your nametag.” Which makes a lot more sense. “Call me Saix.”

“Can I call you in general?”

“I’m only here for tonight.”

Lea hums in interest as he begins to pour himself a drink of his own. Just fifteen minutes until his shift gets off, after all. “Yeah? What brings you to Traverse Town then, Mr. Mysterious? Business, pleasure?”

The man-- _ Saix _ looks down into his drink for a moment, swirling the rest of it around absentmindedly. He’s already halfway through. “Old friend,” he finally says after a few seconds.

“Lucky friend. How’d it go?”

“Can’t say. I couldn’t find him.”

“Shame, but I guess it’s called ‘Traverse’ Town for a reason.” People come and go all the time, it feels. He misses some of his old regulars. “If you’re looking for some fun, I can make your trip worth it,” he flirts unashamedly. “I get off in a few minutes, if you can wait.”

Lea doesn’t leave every night with somebody, but if someone catches his eye, he’ll give them a chance. It isn’t like he’s capable of settling down in an actual relationship or anything, and bringing strangers back to his apartment was the most intimacy he got these days. Like everything else in his life, it was an area that lacked drive. It could be better, it could be worse, but Lea has no desire to actively fix anything. Right now is fine enough.

Saix finishes his drink in one slow, long sip that has Lea tracing the alcohol’s path down his throat with each gulp. The longer he has to admire the man, the more excited he is when Saix finally says “I suppose.”

He waits patiently at the end of the bar while Lea finishes up his shift. He doesn’t get up from his seat, doesn’t order another drink or talk to anyone who approaches him; he just watches Lea. It’s flattering, to say the least, and kind of has Lea getting worked up before they’ve even left. It isn’t unusual for people to find him attractive, but he’s taken a special interest in this aloof mystery man. It probably started with the familiarity, and now that he knows it was just a mistake, he focuses on the physical aspect instead. It’s easier than trying to figure out his emotions or spotty memory, anyways.

They make short work of the walk back to his place, Lea filling the empty space with idle talk about the town, the bar, and himself. He can tell Saix isn’t uncomfortable, but doesn’t want to speak much, and he’s more than happy to listen to himself prattle on for hours on end. The walk isn’t that long, though, and he quiets as he fiddles with unlocking and opening the front door.

Some men he brings home, somewhat inebriated and eager, would immediately push Lea up against the wall and make out messily in the entrance. It’s fun in its own right, that eager, hot sex that doesn’t need any kind of introduction or excuse. When Saix reaches for him, he expects the same to happen, for some sudden fire to light in the mystery man and turn him into an animal like other men.

But he doesn’t push Lea against anything. With a hand on his shoulder, he steps closer, shutting the door behind them as he crowds into Lea’s space. Lea remains silent, waiting to see what he’ll do with curious eyes that watch his every move. Saix’s face doesn’t change as his other hand lifts to cup the side of Lea’s face.

Just as the bartender begins thinking he might know this man from somewhere after all, Saix is leaning in to kiss him.

It isn’t passionate, which crosses off the idea they may have had some drunken fling or dated years ago. It isn’t cold, either, so Lea doesn’t think he invited an old enemy into his home unknowingly, either. The kiss isn’t familiar at all, much like the man’s golden eyes, and Lea doesn’t mind that at all. He likes a mystery, so he wraps his arms around Saix’s waist and pulls him in deeper.

For a one night stand, Saix’s kiss is surprisingly gentle, not hurried or even  _ suggestive _ at all. If Lea wasn’t the first one to let his hands roam over the man’s clothed chest, he would believe Saix would be happy to stand here in the foyer and just kiss like high schoolers all night. But the touch helps spur him along, his lips becoming bolder as Lea slips a tongue into his mouth. Saix’s hands on his shoulder and face slide down to his waist, caressing his neck and sides as they go. He doesn’t even touch Lea below his clothes, but the simple, direct slide of Saix’s hands is enough to make him pull back and lick his lips in fresh arousal.

“I’ve got a bed,” he states, grabbing Saix’s hands and leading him back to the first room in the hallway. It’s a small detour that ends with them in the same position, kissing the same way in front of Lea’s bed. 

Now Lea has the decency to grab the zipper at the top of his cloak and begin working it down as his teeth take to the task of bruising the stoic man’s lips red. When his traveling hands touch bare skin below the cloak, though, he pulls back with a devious smirk.

“Not wearing anything underneath?” he teases. “You’re a kinky son of a bitch, huh?”

The words don’t seem to have any effect on Saix. Instead, he unzips the rest of his coat and shrugs it to the ground while inadvertently revealing that he is, indeed, wearing pants beneath, which makes Lea’s brows rise in surrender. He removes his own t-shirt in one swift motion and hooks a finger in the waistband of Saix’s pants, pulling him backwards towards the bed as he sits down on the edge.

Lea takes the opportunity to admire Saix’s body while he’s standing before him, hands running along his hips as he kisses his way up his stomach and chest. He’s surprisingly fit, more so than Lea, which is by no means a bad things. Meanwhile, Saix merely runs his hands through Lea’s hair, continuously smoothing it back and ruffling it into place. Lea would question the strange behavior if he wasn’t already straining so desperately to not just rip both of their clothes off and get to the good part.

He unzips Saix’s pants, and when he starts dragging them down his hips the man suddenly moves, surprising Lea when he suddenly turns to sit beside him on the bed. Lea follows him, not wanting to lose any of the momentum they’ve built up as he swings a leg up and over Saix’s lap to straddle his thighs. Saix’s hands immediately come up to his hips as Lea digs his nails through blue hair and into his scalp and plants another wet kiss on his mouth. This time, Saix doesn’t go slowly, pressing their chests together as he holds Lea’s body close to him and kisses back almost desperately with how he chases Lea’s lips as if he were a thirsty fool trying to steal the last drop of water from his tongue.

Lea chuckles between kisses. “What, I look like your friend or something?”

It’s a joke he uses to lighten the heavy arousal that’s grown so serious in his stomach, not expecting an actual answer.

Saix pulls back enough to look him in the eye, silent for a few moments as they simply watch each other as best they can in the dark room. His golden eyes are piercing, almost frightening in how little emotion there is with his frenzied actions considered.

“Remarkably,” comes his voice, low and raspier than before, the effects of his own arousal evident. He kisses Lea hard before the conversation can be continued, and Lea hardly minds. He isn’t here to get to know the guy, nor does he actually care about why he’s here or what relationship he has with the person he said he was visiting. All that matters is they get to know each other’s bodies tonight and then never again.

-

When Lea returns to bed, fully sated and clean, he flops down happily beside Saix with a catlike grin. He hasn’t had a lay that good in a long time, and he’d go so far as to bet the same went for his companion, too. Saix lays still in bed, his hands folded over his abdomen with the blanket covering him from the waist down for shame’s sake. He doesn’t look at Lea until he’s back in bed and wrapping an arm around Saix’s shoulders. Almost like a tentative cat, Saix hesitates, then he turns his head to rest on Lea’s shoulder.

“You’re welcome to stay the night if you’d like, it always gets cold around here,” Lea mumbles around a yawn, and though he doesn’t hear any confirmation from Saix, he definitely doesn’t get up and leave.

They don’t do anything else. Lea’s fingers tap the rhythm of a song he’d heard earlier in the bar on Saix’s shoulders while the latter absentmindedly fiddles with the red spikes of hair that droop past his neck. Lea has heard himself talk enough tonight to not try and keep up any kind of conversation, knowing the other probably won’t respond much. But just having another body in bed is always a comfort Lea would never turn down.

He falls asleep first, like he usually does, exhausted by a long day at work and an even longer night. In the back of his head, he picks up where he left off, trying to retrace every step he’d taken the past few years that might have led him to Saix before. With his nose buried in the top of his blue hair, it’s impossible to ignore the feeling that he’s more than familiar with this scent and warmth.

But when he wakes up the next morning, the mystery man has disappeared, just as Lea expected. The only trace he had ever visited at all are the kiss marks pressed into his neck, the pleasant soreness below his hips, and the feeling that he’s forgotten something very important.

* * *

He quit his job at the bar about a year ago. Besides missing his regular sleep schedule, it was also just time to pick up and move--back to Radiant Garden, of all places. Some restoration committee based in Traverse Town had been intent on getting back for years, and now that he had a chance, it wasn’t like he couldn’t take it. Many of the others who ended up in Traverse Town decided to stay, having been quite some time since they left their original world and already made new lives here. Lea couldn’t blame them, and to be honest, he wishes he had that same conviction to stay in one place. He also wishes he had the conviction to go out to a dangerous world and fix it back up to create a new home.

The only reason he goes is because he doesn’t have any reason not to and the idea that he might find what’s been missing his whole life. He’d had a fine enough life in Traverse Town for almost ten years, but it’s always been different. Lea remembers a childhood where he didn’t worry about things like the future because he already had goals, plans, things he liked to do,  _ anything _ to make a dull life colorful. Somewhere along the line, it had changed, and life began to crawl at a snail’s pace afterwards. Going day to day, not thinking ahead of the next minute, just going along with whatever comes his way… it’s never how he wanted to live. Even if he doesn’t know what he used to want or have, Lea knows that he  _ wants _ to want it again.

So he returns to where it all began. Once it’s been deemed safe enough to return, monsters under control and whatnot, dozens of Radiant Garden natives gather to return home and help rebuild their original world. Lea doesn’t commit himself to any type of group or promise his help to anyone in particular, but the only jobs available in Radiant Garden when they return are reconstruction and refurbishment. It isn’t work that he hates, and the physical labor helps keep his mind and body busy. He runs into old neighbors and classmates that were more spread out in Traverse Town and offers them help. Something like a community begins to reform, and although Lea still doesn’t have an overall goal in life, this is definitely a fulfilling first step.

He’s happy to work for his old home. He’s happy to see it return to life, to reunite with old friends and do something  _ meaningful _ . This isn’t just some role that needs to be played for the sake of it, no; this is important work with immediate results, clear before his eyes. He sees the families of the homes they rebuild cry tears of joy, and he works longer hours than he should for the sake of it.

It’s the first time he’s felt he has some kind of purpose or meaningful work in a long time. Even if there isn’t any define pay or insurance he’ll be rewarded for his work later, just having  _ something _ is reason enough to continue.

Lea excuses himself from their current project fixing up the old town center when sunset hits. He isn’t the last one to leave, but he has been working since early in the morning and still gets tired. This is the kind of work that makes him enjoy his free time, actually gives meaning to the hours he has away from hard labor. He stretches as he walks a familiar route through town that becomes more familiar every day.

For how foggy his memory felt, it feels like everything came rushing back to him as soon as he first arrived. All the buildings, though broken, are in the exact same position as before. The colors are faded, but he can recognize them, and every time he walks down this street he goes through the names in his head; every neighbor, every classmate, he can put their names to each house and remember them vividly. Some of those people have returned on the same ship he did while others went to other worlds, and others weren’t fortunate to make it out of Radiant Garden alive.

The first thing he did was find his own home. It’s one of the better ones, with at least some kind roof overhead that’s protected most of the rooms. Lea spent a good day and a half just sitting in his old bedroom and going through his things, both reminiscing and searching for the ‘a-ha’ moment that would help jog his memory of… whatever it is he’s forgotten. Something changed in his childhood, something that stole all of his motivation and goals and desires and love of life. But finding some box with the answers to everything would just be too easy. Real life isn’t like fairy tales. 

On many of his walks, his feet take him on the same route he would as a child. Lea could close his eyes and make his way by muscle memory alone. The school he went to, the diner he would hang out at after class, the park they practiced pranks, the rooftops they skipped class on… without thinking, the word ‘they’ encroaches on his thoughts. It isn’t as if he didn’t have any friends, but when he thinks of the specific people he knew, that foggy haze over his memory only gets stronger.

He stops walking when he reaches one destination that his feet are fond of taking him to. It’s a house, one he spent a lot of time at, one that he recognizes and knows vividly. It got worse damage than his own home when they all fled Radiant Garden, the walls to one side crumbling along with the roof on top. Not for the first time, he walks inside and retraces his memories, searching for some kind of clue or answer to lift the blindfold from his mind.

This house was always kept cleaner than his. The couple who lived here, who he remembers quite well, were always kind to him when he came over. They were friends of his parents, and their two families would hang out often. He walks down the hallway. All of the picture frames on the walls were either taken when they fled or shattered. The wallpaper that he’d made fun of as a boy has peeled, revealing the mottled wall beneath it. In the kitchen, he remembers how different their dinners were than at his home. The adults rarely ever sat down for dinner together, much less having cooked themselves. Although Lea is certain he didn’t cook for himself here, he can’t remember a time he ever saw either adult preparing food--and yet he ate here constantly. And the food was good.

The living room is less familiar. He knows he didn’t spend much time down here, given it was occupied mostly by the adults and didn’t even have a TV. If he wasn’t eating in the kitchen or using the secret base he helped build in a tree outside… Lea returns to the hallway and climbs the dilapidated stairs. There’s only three rooms on the second floor; the adults’ bedroom, a small bathroom, and Lea enters the third. When he first arrived, it had been locked, and he wonders how many years the adults here had kept it hidden.

Another bedroom.

It’s the room he knows best in the house. The blue walls, the black covers on the bed, the neat and tidy closet… He enters and shuts the door behind him, though it hardly matters as there’s already a gaping hole in the left wall leading to the outside. The fan on the ceiling is broken, but it always has been. It used to spin and circulate air fine enough, but it was never turned on to avoid the obnoxious clicking noise it made. Instead, they would open the windows wide in the summer and let nature’s breeze take care of cooling them off instead. Young and still growing, Lea would cross his arms on the open window sill and lean his entire head out. It was always a tight fit, even though the window was by no means small--because somebody else was right next to him.

His head hurts. With a deep breath, Lea sits on the side of the bed and puts his head in his hands, doubling over. This place is the largest mystery he’s encountered, just in how familiar and alien it is to him at the same time. It could be justified, somewhere in his head; this room was nothing but a guest room, and during the times his parents would hang out over here, he stayed here. It’s an explanation, and it isn’t impossible, but it doesn’t feel right.

Still, this is the place he feels most at home, more than his own house, so he comes here often.

After work, with nothing else to do, Lea will naturally wander over here just to sit in this room meant for a child and think. He’ll go over his day, reminisce about the neighborhood, and think about his own life that led him here. Sometimes, he’ll daydream about walking in here one day to find something has changed, or some mysterious person who’s the answer to everything wrong in his life will be waiting to lend him a hand and fix everything all at once. Something like a knight in shining armor on a white horse who will provide him that ‘a-ha!’ moment that puts everything into place at once.

Maybe then he’ll be like everybody else with some kind of passion or desire for the future, some care about what he’s doing the next day instead of just making it by.

But that’s just wishful thinking, and he’s far too old to dream about such childish things.

So he leaves, closing the door behind him and heads back towards the camps the restoration team has set up for them to live in until enough has been repaired. Lea didn’t stay in the house long enough for nightfall to come just yet, the sky cast in all hues between orange and red with twinges of blue night beginning to appear at the edges. Tomorrow will come, and he’ll continue his work as always, more satisfied than before but nowhere near as happy as he would want. If this is how it’s going to be, he might just devote himself to service work or fighting those monsters they’ve seen on the outskirts of town. It’s meaningful work that anyone could recognize as good without having to be overly inspired--it suits him.

Lea notices somebody he hasn’t seen around town for the first time in weeks. The only reason it interests him is knowing that the next ship of people won’t be arriving for another month, and he had been one of the leaders that helped the newest residents get settled into Radiant Garden. He doesn’t see the man’s face, what with him sitting on the edge of a fountain with his back to Lea, but his dark outfit and long blue hair are distinct enough for him to know he hasn’t been here before. He would recognize somebody as distinct as him.

He approaches him for no reason other than curiosity.

“New here?” Lea asks in a friendly voice, sitting with a few respectful feet of distance between them. The sudden company doesn’t seem to surprise the stranger, and in fact, he looks over as if he had already known Lea was coming.

“I was waiting for you,” he says without answering Lea question. His blank eyes reveal nothing on his cold face, making it impossible to pick up on any kind of emotion. For all he knows, this could be a bad guy that Lea is supposed to feel threatened by, or maybe he’s some aid sent from who knows where to help out. His posture is stiff and formal, back straight as a ruler with his hands resting on either side of his seat.

“Me? Have we met before?” Lea tries to laugh casually. A lot of the people who come by here are less than normal, some suffering from traumas so great after leaving Radiant Garden that they’re merely shells of the people they once were. One man had even mistaken Lea for his son once; that had taken a while to diffuse.

Even though Lea questions him directly, the man speaks as if he hadn’t even said anything. “I came to talk to you all those times, you know. The first time when we were still young, when you moved to Traverse Town, and every few years I would visit to see you.”

Lea opens his mouth to interrupt him when there’s a lapse in his words. The stranger picks up before he gets a chance.

“I know it means nothing to you,” he says firmly. “You don’t know who I am--it’s why I was never able to speak honestly with you. And yet I kept coming back, just to see you, because you were my only tether to this world. Everyone has their own reason, their own attachment that binds them here; it’s only because of your memory I was able to survive and become a Nobody. But I think now it may have been less of a blessing and more a curse. At least if I had died, you would remember me.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Lea knows the answer before he even asks.

As strange as it is, he knows that this man is completely in control of his faculties. He speaks with such conviction, such… clarity that it can’t be anything but the truth. But it’s a truth revolving around Lea that makes no sense to him, a history that he can’t place himself in at all. He knows about things like ‘Nobodies’ from conversations overheard with the restoration committee and that Sora kid who comes around every now and then, but he had never thought they were anything like this. He never thought one would come directly to him.

The man doesn’t answer his question, but something almost like a smile twitches at the corner of his lips.

“It’s all going to be over, soon,” he says instead. “I wanted… to see you one last time, and finally say what I intended to all those years ago.”

For the first time, he turns to look at Lea directly. His orange eyes are piercing, and Lea immediately understands; this man knows him. He probably knows him more than anybody else, maybe even himself.

And he has no idea who he is. He doesn’t say a word.

“I’m sorry, Lea.”

He can’t say anything.

“Back then, I shouldn’t have been so adamant. I should’ve listened to you when you said you were upset.”

Even if he wanted to, Lea’s throat closes up. It hurts.

“I said something horrible and hit you where it would hurt the most, and then I avoided you for weeks. But the truth is that I missed you, that entire time. I wanted to be with you, just like always, but I was too stubborn. We both were.”

For such an emotional talk, Lea can’t find a trace of emotion in his voice. He speaks clearly and curtly as if he were reading off a script, and he may have honestly been. But without a paper in front of him, Lea knows he must have the words memorized. That’s the only indication he has any emotion at all.

The man pauses, brushing his own hair behind his ear and looks back down at the ground beneath his feet. “I’ve wanted to say that for years. But when you never recognized me, I wasn’t able to. It never stopped me from wanting to see you--the only reason I made it this long was the idea that if I could regain my heart, we could go back to normal.” An actual smile comes to his face this time, but all it does is twist something in Lea’s chest painfully. “But I knew that could never happen. Not when you’ve already made your own life elsewhere with new friends, forgetting me so easily.”

Of course, anyone would react to a stranger speaking so fondly of him, recalling his past as if they were actually there. He speaks to Lea like an old friend, and what he says… it hardly even registers that somebody could care about him to the degree the man speaks. Even if it’s fake, even if this is some kind of elaborate prank, for a moment it feels so genuine that Lea doesn’t know what to do.

He hasn’t done a lot in his life. He dropped out of college, left his parents behind, worked as a bartender and took home whoever he wanted whenever, never kept a stable relationship, annoyed all his existing friendships away… For years it felt like nobody would notice if he disappeared entirely. He didn’t contribute anything meaningful to others, and there wasn’t anything in life that he wanted. Without any goals or dreams or desires besides what was directly achievable that day, Lea always faded into the backs of people’s minds as one or two exciting encounters, and then never again.

He can’t imagine that somebody could care this much for him. The difference between surviving  _ for _ someone and  _ because _ of them… and claiming both? Lea hasn’t even heard someone say they were happy to see him outside of work in years.

The man stands up. Lea, unsure of what to do, does the same. He doesn’t approach him.

“Don’t worry,” he says with his back turned to the redhead. “You’ll forget about this in a few days as always. I’m just being selfish one last time.” He begins walking away, then, not even looking back one last time as his boots hit the pavement. “Farewell, Lea.”

Something about those words strike him.

They hurt much more than they should for someone he doesn’t know.

“I couldn’t forget--” The words come from somewhere deeper than his thoughts, not even registering he had said anything until the words reach his own ears. It’s enough to stop the stranger in his tracks, but he doesn’t turn around.

All at once, every foggy memory, every displeasure in life he was unable to voice to anyone jumps out, and Lea can’t stop.

“I may not be able to remember you,” he admits shamefully, “but I’ve always known that something is wrong. That since I was a teenager, something has been missing, that my memories didn’t make sense, and at some point everything changed... I stopped caring about the next day, I didn’t have any goals for the future, I hardly enjoyed living day to day, and I--I couldn’t connect with anybody. All at once, it was like all my bonds to everyone in this world were severed.”

There’s no guarantee that any of this is relevant, or that any of it could even be fixed.  But hasn’t he always been looking for something? When he goes into that house almost every day and sits on the edge of a teenager who doesn’t exist’s bed, isn’t he always waiting? Now for somebody to show up and offer him answers as well as  _ care _ , there’s no way he could let them leave with a simple goodbye.

The man doesn’t move, and so Lea closes the gap between them. He marches right up to him from behind and grabs his wrist none so carefully, turning him around with a hard yank that appears to catch him off-guard. For just one moment before he covers it with a neutral expression, Lea sees the incredulous, stunned look on his face.

“It’s because of you, isn’t it? You were there, weren’t you?”

“It doesn’t matter, let go of me. I have to leave--” the stranger says beneath his breath.

Lea grabs his other wrist, holding both tightly in a hard grip. “Don’t just leave because I can’t remember you. I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I can’t accept your apology until I know what happened--but I want to! I want to remember so I can talk to you and accept your words, it’s useless to come talk to me if I forget!”

“I’m selfish!” the man shouts through a snarl, finally losing his temper. “I’m not here for you, I’m here for  _ me _ , so I can feel relieved before everything ends! I could care less about what you do with  _ your _ life now that I’m not in it!”

“You liar, you said you came to see me all the time! What’s the point if you never spoke to me until now, huh!?”

With surprising power, the blue haired man rips his arms out of Lea’s grips. Right, he’s a Nobody, some kind of monster, isn’t he? Lea makes no move to try and grab him again, both of them standing feet apart and not moving. There’s finally some kind of feeling on his face, now, although it’s an expression of pure rage. It’s better than the blank face he wore before while listing his grievances.

When the man finally turns away again, Lea yells after him. “I don’t know what you’re going to do,” he shouts, “but you better come back safe! I’m not done with you--and I know you aren’t either! You better come and talk to me honestly and tell me your name!”

A swirl of darkness appears in his path, and he disappears into it within seconds.

The next day, Lea goes back to work.

* * *

It’s good to see his old home repaired, but Lea doesn’t live in it. Like many others, he tries to leave the past behind and move forward. Building an entire neighborhood where enemy bases once stood is a lot of work, but it’s worth it to see the look on people’s faces when their homes are complete. Although most of the citizens who came here originally are now housed in new homes or those that weren’t originally destroyed, Lea makes himself comfortable in a more modest home, one that somebody must have lived in all by themselves before leaving it behind. It becomes his personal project when he leaves work to restore it for himself.

The town is busier than usual one day, and Lea takes the time to walk around and take in everything that has changed. Shops have reopened, restaurants he once went to as a child are serving those in need, one school is up and running again, and families fill the streets. Slowly, Radiant Garden is coming back to its full potential, shining as brilliantly as it used to with the combined effort of its townspeople. In the end, it’s always been the people that made Radiant Garden what it is, never any of its glorious courtyards or the castle at its center.

His eyes naturally wander to its spires.

The lights are back on these days.

It isn’t any of his business, and he doesn’t want it to be. Although Lea is curious, he’s contented himself with the work he has now. All the logistics of whatever wars or serious stuff happening is beyond him, and he leaves it to those who are in charge to deal with. He’s not sure whether or not it’s a good thing that castle is full again, but nothing terrible or out of the ordinary has happened yet.

That is, until he sees the large men waiting outside his humble home’s door. As if sensing his presence, they turn around as soon as Lea approaches, their hands formally behind their backs.

They introduce themselves as Dilan and Aeleus. They speak. Words about some great battle are exchanged, none of which Lea understands, and they express that he is needed for something, something, something that doesn’t make much sense. Lea avoids conflict and goes along. It’s easier than putting up a fight.

Strangely, the walk to the castle isn’t as unfamiliar as it should be. He thinks that as a kid, he probably was dared to come up here and probably chickened out part way through. He had always been a crybaby, and although it’s fascinating, not remembering the entrance or the gates would imply he had been frightened after all. Hell, he’s intimidated even now, but he doesn’t let it show. Instead, he fills the silence with idle chit chat with the guards about what they do, what they’ve been doing since they left Radiant Garden, and all kinds of questions that they give very boring answers to.

Somebody at the castle requested him. At the end of whatever war was taking place between worlds, some group of people that were supposedly more important than others (Nobodies, who he thought were supposed to be bad, but guess not?) were returning to their original worlds as well. It’s all that the men explain as they walk through the castle halls and lead him into what looks like some kind of laboratory.

Another younger man is waiting there at a desk and stands to meet him. “Ienzo,” he introduces while sticking out his hand to shake. Lea does the same and gives his own name.

“I’m, uh, not sure if you have the right guy,” he tries to reason. “I don’t know any ‘nobodies’ or anything like that, and I think I would know if I did.”

Ienzo smiles, for some reason and begins to lead Lea to the back of the room where another door leads further into the facility. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Lea waits for some kind of explanation or long lecture about how it works, and yet nothing comes. Nobody even bothers to tell him why he’s here, or why this Ienzo called for him. Maybe they figure that Lea is too dumb to understand any of this big-people talk and don’t even bother--but isn’t he allowed  _ some _ kind of explanation?

Ienzo holds the door open for Lea, waiting for Lea to enter before simply shutting the door without entering after him. Lea immediately turns back to stare at the door, momentarily shocked by how he’s being treated. He thinks he hears laughter on the other side of the door from one of the big guys, then Ienzo’s soft voice says something to them. Lea’s about to pull the door right back open and ask what’s going on before he hears another voice in the room speak up.

“Lea?”

He turns back to see who’s here--and something makes sense.

This room looks more like a hospital than a laboratory, all devices and IVs surrounding one occupied bed in the center of the room. It’s only meant for one person, and for one person, there’s a lot of equipment that all appears very busy at once. The man reclining on the bed appears weak, like he had just woken up when the door opened, and strains to sit up.

It’s a strange feeling. On one hand, it feels like it’s been forever; on the other, he knows that isn’t true. All at once, he can recall every head of blue hair that mysteriously disappeared into the crowd each time he turned to look, every scowl that turned away as soon as they made eye contact, and every black coat that blended into the alleyways.

But he also remembers a friend that tried to speak with him, a man who sat with him in the bar and made stoic love to him, and an argument in the middle of Radiant Garden.

He knows him.

They’ve met more than a few times.

“Isa,” Lea says with a smile.

Isa appears surprised, eyes widening for just a second before he relaxes back into his bed. The smile that appears on his face is one of relief. “I thought it was my job to tell you my name.”

“Nah,” Lea shrugs. He taps his forehead with his index finger. “I’ve got it memorized.”

There’s a chair next to the bed that Lea pretends not to notice as he sits down on the side of Isa’s bed. He does most of the talking, even though they both know that Isa is well aware of everything that’s happened in Lea’s life up until now. He can see it in Isa’s face that he’s relieved to not have to immediately recount what happened to him up until now, knowing it would probably be too complicated for Lea to understand and too painful for Isa to relive.

So instead, Lea talks. He goes over the restoration of Radiant Garden, what life was like in Traverse Town, all the friends they had who spread out and went other places, everything. Isa watches his face quietly while he does, smiling the entire time and only interrupting occasionally to nod along or ask a small question.

Somewhere along the way, Lea turns his body to face Isa better until he’s gradually scooting back and moving his legs onto the bed as well. Eventually he’s turned onto his side to lay down in the small space between Isa and the rail of the bed, and Isa appears more than happy to scoot back to give him more room. They’re only interrupted once when Ienzo comes in hours later, remaining silent and letting them continue their conversation as he checks Isa’s medicine and some of the machines in the room before leaving for the night.

Offhand, he tells Lea to take care of Isa while he’s gone.

Lea doesn’t bother looking up at him, eyes locked onto the more-than-familiar green pair across from him. Isa smiles back at him. Between them, their hands are folded together.

“I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [@ludella](ludella.tumblr.com) i typically have my ask box open for requests and love talkin


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